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linkforbookandthisweek1learning.docxLink for book
Chapter 1 covers the complex relationship between business corporations and the many individuals and organizations in society.
Chapter 2 covers the many public issues and matters of concern to business organizations and its stakeholders.
Chapter 3 covers the social responsibility challenges that affect businesses' interaction with its stakeholders while pursuing traditional economic goals.
Hint: Use the “Key Terms” listed at the end of each chapter to help guide your reading. You should be able to define, provide examples, and state the significance of each term.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Food for Thought
You are encouraged to visit the websites of some of your favorite businesses. See what they say about being socially responsible and consider the following:
· Would you be willing to patronize “green” companies, even if it meant lesser-quality goods at higher prices?
· What if you had to drive across town to patronize these companies?
While using different terminology, most companies address corporate social responsibility in some way or another. Here are some varying link titles that can be found by navigating the company websites.
As you were reviewing various websites, you likely found a lot of information about what corporations are doing to be socially responsible—or at least what they say they are doing. Do you believe that in general, corporations are “practicing what they are preaching”? Do their actions follow their words? Is it really possible to know for sure? What terminology does your organization use to address Corporate Social Responsibility, and does it make good on its words?
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is the idea that businesses interact with the organization’s stakeholders for social good while they pursue economic goals. Both market and non-market stakeholders expect businesses to be socially responsible, and many companies have responded by making social goals a part of their overall business operations. What it means to act in socially responsible ways is not always clear, thus producing controversy about what constitutes such behavior, how extensive it should be, and what it costs to be socially responsible
Public Issues: Food for Thought
Now think about your own organization and consider the following:
· What is the most recent public issue that your organization has faced?
· How did management address it, and to what degree has the issue been resolved?
· How might you have addressed the issue differently?
Public Issues
Businesses today operate in an ever-changing external environment, where effective management requires anticipating emerging public issues and engaging positively with a wide range of stakeholders. Whether the issue is growing concerns about global warming, water scarcity, child labor, animal cruelty, or Internet privacy, managers must respond to the opportunities and risks it presents. To do so effectively often requires building relationships across organizational boundaries, learning from external stakeholders, and altering practices in response. Effective management of public issues and stakeholder relationships builds value for the firm.
Stakeholders: Food for Thought
Now think about your own organization and consider the following:
· How many stakeholders are there in your organization, and is it possible to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with all of them?
· If not, how would you prioritize which stakeholder is more important than another?
· How might the core values of community and respect apply to your decision-making?
Stakeholders
Business corporations have complex relationships with many individuals and organizations in society. The term stakeholder refers to all those that affect, or are affected by, the actions of the firm. An important part of management’s role is to identify a firm’s relevant stakeholders and understand the nature of their interests, power, and alliances with one another. Building positive and mutually beneficial relationships across organizational boundaries can help enhance a company’s reputation and address critical social and ethical challenges. In a world of fast-paced globalization, shifting public expectations and government policies, growing ecological concerns, and new technologies, managers face the difficult challenge of achieving economic results while simultaneously creating value for all of their diverse stakeholders.
You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the following publications, to name just a few. In this course, you may find these helpful as sources of reference material to use in discussions, case study assignments, and/or the term paper. Also, do not overlook the vast resources of Saint Leo University’s electronic databases, such EBSCO, Proquest, and Wilson.
Business Week
The Economist
The Wall Street Journal
Fortune
Forbes
Harvard Business Review
Integrity
You might recall events from recent years that relate to this course, including the Enron and WorldCom disasters. These events are clear examples of how corporate officers lost their sense of morality. They walked away with over one billion dollars and caused catastrophes for thousands of shareholders and employees. As a result of these acts of greed, innocent people lost their life savings. Our core value of Integrity is so important in business. Without it, no matter how successful a business may appear, can it possibly be satisfying the needs and wants of all of its stakeholders, that is: stockholders, employees, government, customers, suppliers, the community/public, and creditors?
Corporate Responsibility and Ethics
The global financial crisis of 2008-2009—highlighted by the failure of major business firms, unprecedented intervention in the economy by many governments, and the fall from grace of numerous prominent executives—focused a fresh spotlight on issues of corporate responsibility and ethics. Around the world, people and governments are demanding that executives do a better job of serving shareholders and the public. Once again, policy makers are actively debating the proper scope of government oversight in such wide-ranging arenas as health care, financial services, and manufacturing. Management educators are placing renewed emphasis on issues of business leadership and accountability.
Show Me the Money
According to economist, Milton Friedman, “The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” In other words, business is in business to make money! Why else would a business be in business? Businesses are not charitable organizations; they exist to make a profit. It is all about the bottom line—making lots of money and rewarding stockholders and investors! A business should be able to do whatever is necessary in order to be profitable—as long as its actions do not violate any laws. Do you agree?
In a world economy that is becoming increasingly integrated and interdependent, the relationship between business and society is becoming ever more complex. The globalization of business, the emergence of civil society organizations in many nations, and new government regulations and international agreements have significantly altered the job of managers and the nature of strategic decision-making within the firm.
